Ficus macrophylla - Urban Yamadori - Collected 1997

[Sno]

It looks like the neglect has really girthed it up . I would prune it at the same time as you remove it , (but that’s just me ) you don’t know how much root you could be actually removing from it . With the roots escaping , the drainage hole is probably blocked and you may have to repot it .
I hope the young fella is fit , those eucs look like they are going to be tough to dig .

[Kevin]

Hello all,

Well the stress levels have eased, everything just happened so fast. Tidying up the area was always planned this summer, however the weather has been crap, completely unsummer like. Knowing I had figs in the mix, I wanted to give them every chance of survival, I had been waiting for our night time temps to increase instead of consistently being around 10 degrees. It wasn't until the summer solstice that I had enough of waiting and rang several tree loppers. We received a quote several hours later which was very reasonable and the work was completed 2 days later on Xmas eve and BAM - summer hit with a vengeance. I was expecting, especially at this time of year to be waiting weeks, at least a month or two.

Now I've moved the fig to receive late afternoon shade and the pot is holding water, which I was worried about since it's been 7 years since the last repot. My main concerns now are WHAT HEIGHT SHOULD THIS FIG BE As a gauge (the below photos) the tree now sits at 1 to 1.2 metres. I was originally thinking of pruning it down now to 800mm, expecting, with regrowth, a final height close to 1 metre. BUT IS THIS TOO TALL How big does this tree need to be to look natural The trunks diameter at soil level is 500mm to 550mm. So with this in mind at a ratio of 2:1, a final height of 1 metre with a nebari of 500mm. OR SHOULD THE FINAL HEIGHT BE LOWER I'm hoping to get the pruning right the first time. HELP NEEDED with much appreciation.

The fig also has fruit, which appear very young. I'll keep watching and documenting their development for a future I.D. At this stage I'm thinking Ficus rubiginosa, the mature leaves have also developed a mildly brown, furry texture to their undersides.

Anyway, here's some current photos.

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Thanks,

Kevin

[TimIAm]

Hi Kevin,

If you can get some mature fruit on there it will be helpful to decide on the species. F. rubiginosa typically has a velvet like underside but F. macrophylla can also have this (albeit less 'hairy') so it can be tricky to differentiate. The max size for F. rubi fruit is 18mm and the max length of the fruit stem is 19mm. The minimum fruit width for mature fruit on a F. macrophylla is 18mm and minimum stem length is 12mm. So if you get large fruit with longer stems it is likely F. macrophylla. With the typical F. macrophylla you see usually see round fruit around 2cm in diameter at maturity. Sometimes with F. rubi you get fruit on very short stems which makes it easier to call.

I find sometimes with deciding on a ratio if you either sketch what you want the tree to look like based on what you have, or use a photo to make a virtual design, this can be helpful to see roughly what your finished tree should look like. Then use that as a guide to work out your ratios with what you want to work towards.

Glad you were able to get this tree back in a good spot. I'm sure it will be great once you start working on it.

[Kevin]

Hello Tim,

Your post is very informative and very helpful.

Thanks for taking the time to document the differences between the two species.

Kevin